Marc Bristol: Homegrown Music... and Musical Instruments!

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Marc Bristol and other Washington State grassroots musicians wail away on a gutbucket, washboard, and jug (the axe is a gag). For Marc's original homegrown music column—which featured gutbucket, washboard, jug, kazoo, musical saw, and spoons "makin' and playin' "instructions—see MOTHER NO. 50. Inset shows gutbucket "notch and bevel" details.

Even homesteaders need to relax and enjoy themselves from time to time, right? And almost everybody these days wants to cut his or her cost of living. So how about a little do-it-yourself entertainment?

And that's what this column is all about. Down-home music that you can make ... and the instruments (which, in some cases, you can also make!) to play that music on.

We may also publish some songs, discuss music as a potential home business, run discographies, bibliographies, and/or include whatever other do-it-yourself music topics you'd like to see.

The important thing is that this is a new column. If you like it, write to me and let me know. If you have some ideas for this feature, let me know that. I'm open to any suggestions or information you care to contribute. I'll even try to answer your questions about down-home music ... but—both for the benefit of all MOTHER's readers and to ease my correspondence load—I'll deal with those questions, whenever possible, here in this column ... rather than in personal letters.

Address your correspondence for this column and this column only—to Marc Bristol, 31722 N.E. 180th Place, Duvall, Wash. 98019.

Hot Tips For Homegrown Pickers

You say you need some new strings for your guitar— or maybe want to put some winter evenings into buildin' a kit banjo—but the nearest music store Is 50 miles down the road and the snow's so deep that you can't get your pickup out of the barn anyway? Well, don't despair, 'cause I'm going to tell you how you can have those goodies—as well as a whole slow of other musical Items—delivered right to your mailbox ... and for less money than you would have spent In that store In town, toot

There are, you see, a goodly number of mail-order musical merchandisers around the United States, and—since these outfits aren't supporting storefronts In the high-rent district (and because many of the mail-order outlets deal in volume) —they usually offer discounts of up to 50% on most everything but quality handmade instruments.

I've prepared a list of a few reputable mail-order merchants, and —for comparison—I'll Include sample prices wherever possible. So, get out a paper and pencil, and let the postman do the walkin' I

Ell. INSTRUMENTS (Dept. TMEN, 541 East Grand River, East Lansing, Michigan 48823) offers about the most extensive acoustic stringed Instrument catalog that I know of. And, the Elderly folks have spiced their booklet up with solid Information on how to mount a skin head on a banjo, find Instrument building materials, or order publications that deal with folk music.

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